Mark Neal | Author & Speaker

Thanks for visiting my site. I'm the co-author of The Surprising Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Abingdon, 2015). . I write and speak about topics relating to C.S. Lewis, imagination, creativity and the ways technology impinges on culture and relationships. I have lectured on C.S. Lewis both nationally and internationally. My goal is to provide fresh insight into Lewis studies as well as to enable you to think more broadly about technology's impact on the human.

Some of my interests in Lewis include how the concept of sehnsucht (longing) shapes and defines our lives, the ways in which imagination functions as a form of knowing realities that can't be known in any other way, language as a technology, medieval cosmology and the importance of imagination in creativity. Read my bio.

Book

Written by my co-author Jerry Root and I, The Surprising Imagination of C.S. Lewis is a book for those who want an original introduction to Lewis’s body of published work through the under-explored lens of the imagination.

The book examines twelve different works in seven genres and shows how twelve different aspects of the imagination (as identified by Lewis) functioned as the connecting thread of his great literary output and creativity.

This gives you a unique depth of insight into Lewis and his writings but also gives you the tools to cultivate your own imagination and expand your understanding of the world. Learn more >>

Bio

I work as the VP of digital marketing for C. Grant & Company, a marketing firm based outside of Chicago that works with higher education, nonprofits, business and publishing clients. I have held various other careers in my life including working as a reporter for several local newspapers and teaching high school and middle school English. I studied literature at Wheaton College and went on to receive an M.A.T. from National Louis University.

My wife Reba and I live in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. I enjoy long hours of reading and writing, travel and exploration, cooking, book collecting and hard-to-find antiquarian bookstores hidden down long back alleys. I collect things most people don't: tops, bells, inkwells, keys, old bookplates, briar pipes, anything of old and rare beauty that captures my imagination. I have a strange flair for interior design.

Connect With Me

Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I post about things I'm working on, thinking about or that are just plain interesting or intriguing to me. Interested in having me speak at your event or have other questions? Contact me.